Wow! that's a lot! It's been out for four years and on Humble Bundle and on-sale multiple times, I'm sure that plays a part in sales...
I wonder about those high numbers for "users" based on it's a Steam only game and the TBL Rosters have 30K in subscribers in the workshop https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=567307051 - are there really over 100 thousand EHM users who use fake player rosters?
Also, the number of players playing at any one time is apparently in the 500 range https://steamcharts.com/app/301120 - is that a normal amount playing for 100K users? I'd think it'd be way higher, but maybe not

Did you try Riz's suggestion? It's quoted in the second post in this thread (Riz is the game creator/developer)
The issue is also discussed over at TBL (I found this https://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=117&amp;t=15203&amp;start=50 and there could be more)
For all things EHM I'd recommend TBL (even over this site...anything important on this site regarding EHM will be on TBL, but TBL has lots more + TBL is more active) https://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/index.php

The game's only available via Steam, and updates automatically on Steam (the older versions of EHM from 2007 and before are not available for purchase as new anymore). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastside_Hockey_Manager
I would think the primary thing that makes the "£14.99 version better" is that buying directly from Steam is more reputable/reliable (I've made a purchase or two via Humble Bundle but otherwise I've never used a key site/eBay for purchasing Steam games)

AFAIK all the databases come from TBL...
the TBL databases https://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=77
BKarchitec's databases https://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&amp;t=18491 and https://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&amp;t=18863
xECK29c's database (https://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=13&amp;t=18708)
If you started in 2015 I think you'd be using a TBL database (it has a 2015-16 version and the others start in 2017 or 2018).
I'm not sure if there was a known issue about a crash with the 2015-16 TBL rosters (TBL has a Forum about their rosters/issues https://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=150 maybe check the entries from 2015/2016 in the TBL Rosters Crash/Malfunction thread for some insight into your crash, and if you find nothing post about your situation in the TBL Rosters Crash/Malfunction thread)
Sometimes/often with crashes you'll get an error message before the crash, and what that error message says can help determine why the crash occurred
If your game is corrupted (won't play/crashes) it's likely not fixable...but if it is/if the reason is known, it should be mentioned in the TBL Rosters Crash/Malfunction thread

I’m an old guy/not tech savvy, but I do know there are differences between NA and Europe in characters and how they're read (I edit EHM a lot and I know the issue comes up sometimes with spreadsheets/editors); this issue has been solved in the editing community by the volunteers that create the editors
Given the above, I would think a tech savvy person might be able to solve your problem (alas I’m not that guy, sorry) EDIT - I might be wrong, but it seems this might be your issue/might be fixable IMO
There’s an online community at TBL (ehmtheblueline.com - IMO the best source for all things EHM) & there’s EHMreddit.....you might get more and better information/advice/support there

For EHM05, EHM07 and the new EHM all multiplayer I've ever heard of/played in involved the same game being directly accessed by the players (there was never any sending of files); one person has the game up and running on their computer and all other players can log into that game/their team via the IP address (alas I've never been a host/involved in hosting so I don't know the details of how things work).
I have sent/received saved games overseas (I'm in NA) many times without issues.
I suspect the problem is the game wasn't ever set up for exchanging lines files to work in the way you're trying to get it to

It's hard to think of teams that have never won in the NHL but were a top team long ago...the Toronto Maple Leafs have many hot young prospects and a nice budget and though the Leafs have won 13 Stanley Cups since 1927, they haven't won a Stanley Cup (or been a real contender) in 50 years
For addons the most important is the TBL Rosters (2017-18 version just came out!); just click "Subscribe" in the Steam Workshop and you'll be able to select TBL 10.0 at start.
Regarding addons in general, you might find this page helpful https://www.ehmtheblueline.com/wiki/index.php?title=Where_to_install_addons:_EHM_Early_Access
For all things EHM I can't recommend the TBL website enough...everything you could want for EHM is there
Home Page https://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/portal.php
Forums https://www.ehmtheblueline.com/forums/index.php

What makes you think I wouldn't want more frequent updates? IMO it's not about what you or I want, it's about being realistic (if I'm going to wish for things with no sign of being realistic I'll wish for something like world peace or to win the lottery)
And you never answered what made you think it was going to be a series [and I wasn't defending infrequent updates, I was defending the idea that they never said there'd be a series and the idea that the game wasn't dead...I think they've been totally upfront from the beginning about the limited time EHM is getting (so it doesn't seem "crazy" at all to me that the time between updates is so long sometimes), and regardless of how infrequent a $20 game still being updated three years later seems impressive to me]

What caused you to think the game was going to be a series?
I've been actively involved with EHM since 2010 as a volunteer tester/researcher and the game was actually "dead" from 2010-2015 (there wasn't even a Forum on this site for it, no updates at all, no comments at all from Riz/SI, etc) but that's not the case now.....a game that you paid $20 for that is still being updated over two years later seems like a good deal to me
AFAIK the new EHM was never presented as anything other than the resurrection of a dead game that Riz would work on in his spare time/sporadically.....I have no idea how anyone could think they were misled; as for the 10 month delay, are sports simulation games usually still being updated years after release? isn't it usually 6-8 months after release all work on the game stops as they move to the next in the series? with never another update again?

The resurrected game that Riz works on occasionally, that is clearly not a priority.....you think the limited time Riz has should be spent on the tiny minority? or you think a new game is possible! They just seem completely unrealistic views to me
FHM4 just dropped online play from their game altogether...given that quite clearly online play is not going to get the attention some like yourself would like it to get, would you prefer EHM do what FHM4 did?
I played online (EHM05, EHM07 and EHM1), and experienced some of the difficulties mentioned, but each time I quit it had absolutely nothing to do with the EHM issues
I never had some issues mentioned.....we always did the draft "offline" (via Skype or something similar) and then one person entered the draft, I never scheduled exhibitions during the offseason (why would you?), I never experienced the to many tryouts problem/I felt I was still able to invite more than enough players for a realistic training camp, and I rarely had an issue with timing out (I didn't leave myself on screens or flip back and forth between the game and other things, I'd log in and check my team and make any changes and log out; I also used screenshots when preparing for the draft)
I really do hope some of the online issues get some attention (especially the idea of making it easier to bring the game back up after a crash), but I would certainly understand if they didn't anytime soon
1500 hours (and still playing) for less than $20 is an extremely good deal for a paying customer IMO